Toronto, Ontario, November 16, 2013 – The District 60 (Toronto and area) Fall conference is being held at Holiday Inn Yorkdale,3450 Dufferin St, Toronto, ON M6A 2V1 from November 15-17, 2013.

The Communication and Leadership award is presented to individuals, who are not Toastmasters, who are outstanding communicators and Leaders. An individual involved in Media, Provincial or local politics, business, or community volunteering can also be honoured.

Rocco Rossi: A successful entrepreneur and business executive, champion fundraiser, and dedicated public servant, Rocco Rossi is currently President and CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada.

His unique blend of experience intersects general management, philanthropy, public policy, politics, business strategy, and new media.

As CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation – one of Canada’s largest non-profit organizations – from 2004 to 2009, Rossi oversaw four consecutive years of record fundraising raising over $500 million in total and launching many new, life-saving initiatives.

His passion for public policy has led him to stand for election both for the position of Mayor of Toronto and for MPP.

At Boston Consulting Group, he provided strategic advice to Fortune 500 companies in a wide range of industries in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

Mr. Rossi then joined TORSTAR (publisher of the Toronto Star, one of the largest circulation daily newspapers in North America), in 1996 as Vice-President, Strategic Planning & New Media. As part of an executive team that ran the Star, he rolled out a series of structural changes to the advertising, circulation and press departments, and led the newspaper’s internet and new media properties.

As Vice-President, Interactive Media at Labatt from 1999 to 2001, Rossi launched the most popular consumer beer website in the world, beer.com.

A past board member of United Way of Greater Toronto and Toronto’s Olympic Bid Committee, Mr. Rossi has been an active community builder. In fact, in 2012 he was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for his Philanthropic and Community service.

An adventurer, he has walked the fabled Camino de Santiago five times, cycled the 1900 km length of Yonge Street from Rainy River to Toronto, kayaked the 500 km from Toronto to Ottawa, and recently co-chaired an expedition to Everest Base Camp and the summit of Island Peak in support of injured Canadian veterans.

Mr. Rossi has a BA (Hons) in political science from McGill University and a Masters of Arts in politics from Princeton University. He is married to his wife of 25-years, Rhonnie, and they have a 23-year-old son, Domenic John, who attends Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dave Perry is an accomplished senior executive who has established an international reputation as one of Canada’s premier investigators. As a result of a distinguished, 27 year career with the Toronto Police Service, Dave is called upon regularly, by various media outlets to provide expert opinion on domestic and international cases. He has been sought out by the private sector and law enforcement and governmental agencies, worldwide, to conduct seminars on investigative strategies, interviewing techniques, and major case management.

Dave’s record with the Toronto Police Service speaks for itself. Prior to retiring at the rank of Detective Sergeant, he led a number of the city’s most complex and high-profile cases.

Upon retiring from the Toronto Police Service, Dave accepted a position as an Adjunct Professor at Durham College, where he could share his passion with his students. As a member of the faculty for the highly successful LEADER program for middle managers within policing and public safety agencies, Dave won accolades from his students, who considered him a valuable mentor and invaluable resource on Public and Private Investigations, Police Foundations, and Law and Security Administration
In addition to his academic activities, Dave has been sought out to provide consulting services in such areas as Investigative Interviewing, Security and Corporate Risk Management, Labour Relations, Leadership Development, and Human Resources.

Dave has continued his work with youth through his participation in Durham Region’s Pro-Action Cops & Kids Youth Program. Dave, together with his colleagues at ISN, is happy to contribute his time and resources to assisting disadvantaged youth in our area

About Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization’s membership exceeds 292,000 in more than 14,350 clubs in 122 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters60.com. Follow @Toastmasters on Twitter.